Blog

A Brief Review of Sales and Use Taxability Changes Effective July 1, 2015

The Tax Department at Sovos Compliance is committed to providing our clients with timely and accurate taxability rates and rules. Simply put, for us its considered job #1. Historically, any number of jurisdictions will make legislative and regulatory changes in the area of sales tax effective on July 1, and sometimes political realities result in […]

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Top 10 Sales Tax Oddities for Retailers

Did you know these retail facts? They could be affecting your business! The retail industry is a major source of revenue for taxing authorities and companies operating in this space must be particularly careful when it comes to small details. There are certain everyday occurrences that may not be at the forefront of a retailer’s […]

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Important Sales & Use Tax (IVU) Notice For Bonded Importers In Puerto Rico

IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR BONDED IMPORTERS IN PUERTO RICO Puerto Rico recently enacted Law 72-2015 which (among other things) increased the state level Sales and Use Tax (IVU) from 6% to 10.5% effective July 1, 2015. The municipal level rate of 1% remains the same, which makes the total IVU rate 11.5% as of July 1. […]

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Tax compliance is a burden for small businesses

As tax season becomes more of a discussion than an upcoming event, small businesses exhale a sigh of relief. The complex nature of small business tax compliance has created much frustration and even extensions on their yearly filings. According to the National Small Business Association 2015 Small Business Taxation Survey, which included participation from more […]

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Virginia Consolidates Sales Tax Holidays

Virginia holds three sales tax holidays annually. Until this year, the Hurricane Preparedness Holiday took place in May, the School Supplies and Clothing holiday took place in August and the Energy Star and WaterSense holiday took place in October. There has been a lot of debate surrounding sales tax holidays across the country over the […]

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Sales Tax Issues before the Supreme Court

District Court Injunction against Colorado Allowed to Stand On March 3, 2015 the United States Supreme Court announced its decision in Direct Marketing Association v. Brohl (575 U.S. (2015).  In this case, a trade association for retailers challenged legislation enacted by the state of Colorado in 2010 that required sellers that do not have a […]

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Banks facing increased scrutiny under crackdown on cross-border tax evasion

In recent years, banks across the globe have been placed under a microscope as authorities seek to curb cross-border tax evasion. Many organizations have faced penalties, fines and reputational damage as a result of this crackdown. In the latest case, one multinational bank’s operations in Switzerland helped numerous wealthy individuals evade taxes. This revelation came as […]

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Reduce your tax season stress with technology

Tax season is often an extremely stressful time for compliance teams, so companies should use technology to their advantage to get through tax season. Whether companies are keeping track of receipts or completing forms to send to payees, technology is their go-to resource for tax information reporting. Keep everything on hand with compliance technology Technology […]

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When is a penny not a penny?

Rounding vs. the Sales Tax Bracket System We all learned about rounding in grade school. If you have something, that calculates out to less than 0.5 cents you round down. If it’s 0.5 cents you round up to the next penny. If you multiply a purchase price of .74 cents by a 6% sales tax rate […]

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Clearing the skies of common cloud computing myths

Cloud computing has grown by leaps and bounds in the fairly short period of time in which it’s been around for public consumption and use. Yet despite improved understanding of what the cloud is, there are a number of half-truths and misunderstandings about it, resulting in an uninformed consumer. “Cloud computing, by its very nature, is […]

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Sales and Use Tax Changes in the Digital World

Taxability of Goods and Services Sold Online As recent election results have shown, there are few things that states can agree on and the taxability of goods and services sold online is no different. As brick and mortar stores continue to compete with online sales, state legislatures are starting to catch up with laws regarding […]

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Taxware Integration with IBM Commerce Solutions

IBM Smarter Commerce with Taxware Now you can combine IBM Smarter Commerce and Taxware compliance solutions for accuracy, consistency and control over sales and use tax management.  Through an API maintained by Taxware, IBM Smarter Commerce users have full access to Taxware’s determination and reporting tools for sales, use, and Value-added tax compliance. With this […]

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Black Friday by the Numbers [Infographic]

Blurring the line between Black Friday and Cyber Monday With online and mobile shopping growing exponentially and blurring the line between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it’s important that your sales tax determination software is able to accurately handle the expected volume wherever your customers are buying; online, in a store, or over the phone. The holiday shopping […]

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CFOs rank state tax environments in recent study

A recent report by CFO, the 2014 CFO State Tax Survey, examined how 78 tax directors responded to state tax compliance changes implemented in 2013. These directors were asked to rank states based on various tax-related issues. The report noted certain states are increasing their tax collection efforts for out-of-state corporations. “One way of doing so […]

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Sales and Use Tax Nexus – A Continually Moving Target

Sales and Use Tax Nexus – A Continually Moving Target One of the most interesting (some would say frightening) developments in the sales tax world over the last several years has been the concerted efforts by several states to expand the scope of activities that would compel an organization to collect and remit tax their […]

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Puerto Rico Revises Forms for Sales and Use Tax on Imports

Puerto Rico Revises the Title of the Forms to Report and Declare the Sales and Use Tax on Imports Yesterday, October 8, 2014, the Treasury Department of Puerto Rico (the Hacienda) issued Tax Policy Informative Bulletin 14-02, wherein the Hacienda provided that in order to avoid confusion among merchants and importers at the time they […]

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Cloud Computing: Part 4 – Cloudy With a Chance of Sales Tax

Cloud Computing: Part 4 – Cloudy With a Chance of Sales Tax – An Overview of State Tax Schemes Being Applied to Cloud Based Transactions This is the fourth and final part of our blog series addressing issues related to the taxation of cloud based transactions. Previously, we addressed what the cloud is, why businesses should concern […]

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What Do Tax Managers Do?

What Do Tax Managers Really Do? According to wisegeek, Tax managers prepare the required government documents concerning taxes, ensure the accuracy of these documents, and offer solutions to pressing tax problems. Tax managers must be familiar with international, domestic, state, and local tax laws.   That got us thinking about what Tax Managers really do.  So […]

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